Azumanga Daioh: Yukari and Nyamo
by LadyRushia
Summary: I'm bringing this story back to life. Ever wondered what Yukari and Nyamo's high school experience was like? Now is your chance to find out. Rated T to be on the safe side.
1. Day One

Well, it has certainly been a long time. This is a revamp of this story, which I first wrote way back in '05. Right now, I'm editing the five chapters I've written and will be putting them back up at regular intervals. Hopefully, once that's all finished, I'll continue the story. In my time away from writing fanfiction, I did get the sudden urge to start writing this one again and now I've gone and actually started that process, XD. I really would like to finish it, but we'll see how that goes. For now, enjoy.

**I do not own Azumanga Daioh, nor do I intend to own it ever.**

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_ High school_, thought Tanizaki Yukari as she lay stretched out on her bed, _I can't believe it's all starting tomorrow_. She grinned widely as all of her expectations of her new life sped through her mind. The best years of her life were about to begin and Yukari intended to take full advantage of them. Rolling over on her stomach, Yukari picked up the phone sitting on her nightstand and quickly punched in Kurosawa Minamo's number.

"Yukari, why are you calling me so late?" grumbled Minamo as soon as she picked up the phone. It was almost ten o'clock, but Yukari was never one to care about time or place whenever she had something to say.

"Come on, Nyamo," said Yukari, twirling the phone cord around her finger, "We're starting high school tomorrow! You've gotta be at least a little excited, right?"

"I guess," Minamo sighed, sounding unsure of herself.

"What, are you scared? Don't worry about it! You know you'll beat everyone in gym class and become the star athlete of the school."

"You only say that because you can't even go one lap around the track without getting tired."

"And? Come on, you know you're the best athlete ever. Go in tomorrow and show your mightiness to all!" Yukari laughed and Minamo laughed a little as well. This was enough for Yukari to know that Minamo felt better; both of them knew each other all too well. After all, they had been friends ever since elementary school.

"I just hope we're in the same class," said Minamo.

"Don't worry about it. If we aren't in the same class, you can just sneak into mine and pretend to be whoever doesn't show up!"

"Who wouldn't show up on the first day though?"

"I dunno. I guess someone who sleeps through the whole day."

"You mean you?" Minamo teased, knowing what was happening on the other end of the phone. Yukari was making a dramatically angry face and in a few seconds she would yell at Minamo for making fun of her.

"Hey! I just made you feel better about school tomorrow and this is how you thank me? I will definitely not sleep through my first day of high school, but I'll bet Chia will."

Both Yukari and Minamo giggled at the thought of their friend Chisaki, who also managed to be given a nickname by Yukari.

"I don't think that even Chia would miss the first day of school," said Minamo.

"Well if she does, you can pretend to be Chia and Chia can pretend to be you. Then, in the middle of the year, you guys can switch back to your normal selves," Yukari explained while keeping a serious tone, leaving Minamo baffled at her friend's strange logic.

"Why would we do that?" asked Minamo, though she thought immediately after speaking that she should've dropped the subject.

"Because Chia won't show up tomorrow and you will! Then you'll have to pretend to be Chia for that day and then Chia has to be you!" Yukari replied cheerfully.

"Yukari, stop now before you confuse yourself."

"Fine," Yukari grunted. "Listen, mom's yelling at me to go to bed. See you tomorrow!" After hanging up the phone, Yukari crawled under her sheets and turned off her lamp. The closer she drifted to sleep, the more vivid the images of everything she wanted high school to be were. Nothing but pleasant thoughts passed through Yukari's head.

Meanwhile, Minamo stared at the ceiling in her dark room. Despite Yukari's attempts to calm her nerves, she still felt a flood of emotions at starting this new stage in life. Excitement, fear, joy, and nervousness were all mixed up inside of her; there was no way she was going to get any sleep tonight.

_High school_, she thought as she closed her eyes to make herself fall asleep, _I wonder what kind of people we'll meet?_

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Yukari's alarm clock cried incessantly early the next morning. Of course Yukari, who wouldn't wake up even if her house was crumbling to the ground, didn't hear it. After five minutes of the constant beeping, Yukari's mother came storming into her room.

"Yukari, shut that thing off and get up!" she shouted and slammed the door as she left the room. Yukari slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room, wondering where all the noise was coming from. When she finally realized that it was her alarm clock, she glared at the digits that read 6:00AM. Subconsciously, Yukari squeezed the clock in her hand and made ready to throw it at the wall.

"And don't you dare throw that alarm clock against the wall, Yukari! You're not getting another one if you do!" her mother's voice shouted from downstairs.

"Ugh, shut up," Yukari groaned and slammed her fist against the top of the clock to turn it off. Rolling her head to the left, Yukari could see her reflection in her full length mirror. Her dark, wavy brown hair was a mess and her dark brown eyes were glassy and slightly red from lack of sleep. Yukari stretched her arms above her head and threw her blankets off of her.

Still half-asleep, Yukari walked over to her closet and fished around in the very back for her new uniform. When she finally found it, she took it off its wire hanger and held it up in front of her. The top was pink and had long sleeves with white cuffs at the wrists; a golden clip held two red strings together in the center beneath the white collar. The bottom was a pleated, burgundy skirt that fell about half-way down the thighs.

Yukari slowly undressed herself and eagerly slipped on her new uniform. She looked at herself in the mirror as she brushed her hair and thought that it looked very good on her. As her excitement grew, Yukari became more awake and began humming a tune as she looked through her drawers for socks.

Half an hour later, Yukari was ready to leave. She stood impatiently by the door as her mother prepared her a piece of toast for breakfast.

"Mom, do you wanna speed it up a little?" Yukari asked.

"Do you want butter or not?" her mother shouted back.

"I don't care!" Yukari snapped. "Just give me the toast and let me leave!"

"Watch your attitude!" her mother said as she shoved the toast into Yukari's mouth. Yukari didn't respond (her mouth was full, after all) and zoomed out the door.

Up ahead, Yukari spotted Minamo walking very slowly as if she didn't want to go to school. Yukari decided that this was the perfect opportunity. Still running, she grew closer to Minamo and then jumped on her shoulders.

"Nyamo!" Yukari cheered and threw her arms up in the air, completely unaware that Minamo was losing her balance.

"Yukari! Do you have to do that so early in the morning?" Minamo asked as she lifted Yukari off of her shoulders and set her feet back on the ground, still in shock from the sudden impact.

"Nyamo, why don't you ever let your hair grow out?"

Minamo stared at her blankly, not expecting the topic change. "Oh, you know why," she said after she pulled herself together. "It's easier to swim with short hair."

"Well, can you at least grow it out so it covers all of your neck instead of just half?" Yukari crossed her arms as the two of them began walking.

"No way! Besides, short hair is easier to manage."

"Fine," Yukari grunted.

They remained silent for a few minutes until Yukari couldn't handle it anymore and started another conversation.

"What color do you think Chia's hair will be this year?"

"Don't know," Minamo replied. "I guess we wouldn't find out today anyway since you think she isn't going to show up."

As if on cue, Yukari and Minamo heard someone calling them from behind. There was no mistaking that loud, crisp voice. Yukari and Minamo turned around to see Chia running toward them.

"Heh, I almost slept through the first day," Chia laughed lightly as she caught her breath.

"I told you Chia wouldn't miss the first day," Minamo smirked; Yukari glared at her.

Chia blinked and stared at her two friends. "Did you guys place a bet on me?"

"Not this year," said Yukari, "but that's only because mom kept telling me to go to bed." Yukari grumbled and suddenly took notice of Chia's hair. "Is-is that your natural hair color?"

"Yeah, except for the red streaks, obviously. I think they really stand out against the black," said Chia, grabbing at her hair.

"It looks good," Yukari smiled. "Your hair is long and pretty, unlike Nyamo's same old boring style." Minamo rolled her eyes and didn't say anything.

The three of them walked the rest of the way to school in silence for the most part, enjoying the April weather. As they neared the campus, they could see the cherry blossoms falling and decorating the buildings and paths. The buildings only grew larger as they approached, and soon they were swept away in a sea of their fellow classmates.

"It's kind of a bummer that this is an all-girls school, don't you think, Nyamo?" said Yukari.

"You'll be able to concentrate better," said Minamo, "and believe me, someone like you needs to concentrate as much as possible."

"Well maybe I don't want to be single for the rest of my life!" Yukari crossed her arms.

"I care more about creepy teachers than anything," Chia said nonchalantly. "Hey look, our room assignments are posted over there." Chia pointed to a large bulletin board that listed everyone's name. Already, a thick mass of girls were crowded around it. Yukari, Minamo, and Chia stretched and stood on their toes as they tried to look for their names between people's shoulders and heads. Finally. Yukari let out a happy squeal and announced that all three of them were in the same class.

Minamo and Chia had no choice but to follow as Yukari grabbed their arms and ran inside the main building.

"Yukari, what class are we in?" Minamo shouted, trying not to trip over herself. Yukari ignored her and kept running around the school until she came to a quick and sudden halt in front of a classroom labeled 1-3.

"Here we are!" she said and marched inside, still holding onto Chia and Minamo's arms. The other students stared; Minamo and Chia, embarrassed by Yukari's behavior, tried not to pay them any mind. Some of the girls recognized Minamo and began whispering.

"That's Kurosawa Minamo. I hear she's one of the top athletes in our area."

"Her main event is swimming, right? I wonder if she'll be in the Olympics?"

Minamo ignored them and finally stopped walking when Yukari found three empty desks near the windows. When Minamo sat down, she felt a nervous tap on her shoulder and turned around. What she saw was a girl with short and wavy light brown hair looking at her with a mixed expression of timidity and delight.

"Minamo-san! Oh my, I can't believe I'm in the same class as Minamo-san!" the girl said, breathing heavily.

Minamo awkwardly smiled back at the girl. "Hello there, Hako-san."

"Minamo-san said hello to me! I'm so happy!"

Minamo slowly face forward again and slumped in her seat.

"Lucky you, Nyamo," Yukari laughed. "Hako's in our class too."

"Take your seats, class!" Everyone fell silent at the sound of this commanding, male voice. The teacher entered the room and set his briefcase down on the desk in the front. The man looked to be in his late fifties with a full head of white hair and a pair of small, round glasses fixed upon his nose. His ensemble of a gray suit with shiny black shoes added to the serious vibe given off by his face.

"I am Yamanashi-sensei. Welcome to first period English."

As soon as he said this, Yukari could barely contain her excitement. English was her favorite subject and it took all of her will to keep herself from jumping around the room with joy.

"By the end of this course, all of you should be able to read and write fairly complex novels in English," said Yamanashi-sensei. Yukari's jaw dropped and she listened intently to everything that Yamanashi-sensei said afterward.

_This is perfect!_ she thought. _Nyamo and Chia are in my class and first period is English! I love high school already!_

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There you have it, folks! I hope you enjoyed it. Leave some reviews, but don't flame.

-LadyRushia


	2. Trouble on Day One

Ah, the improved chapter 2 is up. As always, **I don't own any part of Azumanga Daioh**.

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Yamanashi-sensei's lecture continued to drone as the minutes seemed to tick by slower and slower. Minamo could barely keep her head from dropping onto her wooden desk. She stole a glance at Yukari, who was probably the only one paying attention, and sighed. Sitting around at a desk and listening to boring lectures about things she didn't care about wasn't really Minamo's style. Minamo gazed out the window and imagined feeling the freshness of the water in a swimming pool during a race. She could feel the silence of the water closing in on her, allowing her to only concentrate on every single stroke. Why couldn't school be more active? Sure there were sports teams and gym class, but those weren't enough for Minamo. Given the choice, she would fill her school schedule with nothing but sports.

"Aw, poor Minamo-san," Hako whispered sympathetically, bringing her desk uncomfortably close to the back of Minamo's chair. Minamo almost jumped out of her seat as she was awakened from her daydreaming and turned around to face Hako.

"You always look so sad when you're not playing sports," Hako continued. Minamo was ready to run out of the room right then. Why was it that Hako always managed to guess what Minamo was feeling or thinking about?

"So you find my class boring, Kurosawa?" Yamanashi-sensei's voice echoed throughout the room.

"Huh? Who said that?" Minamo asked, trying to make herself seem innocent as Yamanashi-sensei approached her desk.

"Kurosawa, Hako, detention," Yamanashi-sensei said sternly.

"Really? I get to spend the afternoon with Minamo-san?" Hako almost fainted from excitement, but Minamo was trembling in her seat. "This will be so great, Minamo-san! We get to spend the entire afternoon together. Don't you think it'll be fun?" Hako leaned over her desk and brought her face right next to Minamo's.

"S-Sure," Minamo managed to blurt out. Hako smiled and sat back down in her seat.

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During lunch hour, Yukari, Minamo, and Chia were sitting in the cafeteria enjoying their break. Yukari and Chia were laughing hysterically as Minamo recounted the events of first period.

"Detention with Hako?" Chia said between fits of laughter. "Lucky first day for you, Nyamo!"

"Were you really not paying attention, or are you just pretending not to remember so that I have to talk about it?" Minamo crossed her arms.

"Paying attention to what?"

"English class."

"English class? When was that?"

"This morning!"

"Oh, that's why I missed it!" Chia smiled. "I was sleeping the whole time."

"How could you fall asleep in Yamanashi-sensei's class? It's so interesting," said Yukari as she chewed on some melon bread.

"You seem to be the only one who thinks so," Minamo replied and bit into her croquette.

"So, are you looking forward to this afternoon?" Yukari teased, not allowing that subject to drop contrary to Minamo's wishes.

"You have no idea how awkward it is to be the object of someone's obsession!" Minamo snapped and stabbed her croquette with her chopsticks.

"Hey, if you hate Hako that much, why don't you just tell her to go away?" said Chia.

"I can't just tell her to go away."

"Sure you can! Just tell her to go away and file a restraining order or something," said Chia lightheartedly.

"Chia, that's a dumb idea!" Yukari chimed in. "If Nyamo crushes Hako's fragile heart, Hako will go crazy and kill us all!"

"That's what the restraining order is for!"

"Don't you know anything, Chia? Restraining orders don't stop obsessive people; they just make the person stalk you more."

"Oh really? How would you know something like that?" Chia raised an eyebrow at Yukari.

"I just heard about it on T.V. last night. This guy was obsessed with this girl so he followed her around everywhere. She got a restraining order, but that only pushed him to actually talked to her, but when he did he accidently shot her and she died!"

"Yukari, what channel did you see that on?"

"14, why?"

"Yukari, you were watching a soap opera. None of that really happened."

Yukari stared at Chia blankly for a few moments, but then her usual confident look returned. "Well it could, especially since Hako's been obsessed with Nyamo since elementary school!"

"What?" Minamo jumped in her seat. "I didn't even know that! Oh man. . ." She let her head fall to the table and groaned.

"Yeah, don't you remember, Nyamo?" Yukari began. "It was the day I decided that 'Chisaki' was too long of a name, so we started calling her Chia. I remember because it was the year Chia had green hair. The school didn't like that very much, but they never did anything about it. Anyway, it was our first day of gym and we were playing soccer. Hako somehow got hit in the face with the ball and had to sit out. Me, being the good person that I am, decided to sit with her and keep her company--"

"--Sounds like you were just lazy," said Chia.

"Don't interrupt! Anyway, all she did was watch you play and then she started asking me all these questions about you."

"Is that really how it happened?" Minamo asked, amazed that Yukari remembered something like that in detail. Yukari nodded as the bell rang, signaling the students to return to their classes.

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It was finally time for gym class. Minamo had waited all day for this, literally. Why did gym have to be last period? That meant that Minamo had to go through the whole day without any form of exercise and that was almost intolerable. Minamo stretched her arms out and filled her lungs with the warm, spring air. She had completely forgotten about the fact that after this class, she was stuck with Hako for the entire afternoon.

"Hey, where's the teacher?" Yukari asked, looking around the field.

"To the center of the track, ladies!" came a booming voice from behind them. Yukari and Minamo jumped and stared at their enormous gym teacher with his large muscles and scowling expression. He was tall and wore a track suit along with a metal whistle attached to a red string. Yukari and Minamo slowly made their way to the center of the track, as their teacher instructed, and exchanged looks of fear.

When the entire class was standing in the grass area in the middle of the track, the teacher began marching up and down, explaining his rules and how his class was going to operate.

". . .And by no means should _any_ of you be tardy! If by any chance you happen to show up late, you will do _double_ the number of minutes you're late in push-ups, meaning that if you are ten minutes late, you will do twenty push-ups! Is that clear?" The teacher stopped and faced the class as he emphasized his last three words. The class shouted "yes" in response.

Once again, Chia appeared as if on cue. She came trotting out of the building at her own pace just as the teacher finished his lecture about being late.

"Hey look! It's Chia!" Yukari pointed at the approaching figure and the entire class stared in that direction. The teacher slowly craned his neck and glared angrily at Chia. When Chia finally stood in front of him, she noticed the number of veins popping through his skin.

"I don't think it's healthy to be that stressed," Chia said calmly, pointing to one large vein that looked like it was about to burst.

"You're late! Drop and give me twenty!"

"Twenty what? Twenty yen? I don't have any money on me."

"Twenty push-ups! Now!" The teacher pointed his finger down and Chia immediately dropped to the ground.

"Now class, you will refer to me as Master Katashi. Remember this, just because you're all girls does not mean that I will treat you like girls. You will work hard in this class or you will fail! Is that clear?"

The class responded in the affirmative.

When Chia finished her push-ups, she rose from the ground and joined the rest of the class.

"You," Sergeant Katashi bent down and pointed his finger in Chia's face. "What's your name?"

"Chisaki," Chia replied, showing no fear at all toward her towering gym teacher.

"Well, Chisaki, it'd be in your best interest if you arrived on time from now on!"

"M'kay," Chia replied and scratched her ear. Master Katashi hid the deep frustration he felt by Chia not being affected by his commands and strict shouting. He found it almost offensive when a student didn't show any fear toward him. For him, fear meant respect, so Chia's lack of fear was also a lack of respect.

Despite making his class sound like it was nothing short of impossible to pass, Master Katashi just had the class hit volleyballs to each other. Yukari, Minamo, and Chia made a triangle and hit the ball to each other. Hako was some distance away with another group, but Minamo thought she could feel Hako eyeing her.

The end of class came way too quickly, not only because Minamo's favorite class was over but also because it was now time to resign herself to her fate of spending the afternoon in detention with Hako. Back in the locker room, Minamo changed as slowly as possible in an attempt to knock away a few minutes of her punishment.

"Hey, good luck this afternoon," said Yukari and patted Minamo on the back as she and Chia made their way out of the building. When they were gone, Minamo sighed and slowly dragged herself to her classroom, trying to convince herself that it wouldn't be that bad.

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That's all for now. Reviews are appreciated.

-LadyRushia


	3. Detention

Chapter 3 has arrived!

I still own nothing Azumanga Daioh related. As in, I don't make money off of it.

Enjoy.

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Minamo poked her head in the doorway of Yamanashi-sensei's classroom and found Hako sitting in one of the desks in the center of the room. Hako didn't seem to notice her, however, which Minamo found strange. Sighing, Minamo walked in and took a seat in the nearest desk.

The only thing Minamo could do was stare at the boring face of the desk. The same dull polish and repetitive square design was present on every desk in the room. Minamo was annoyed at the lack of variation and once again found herself thinking about how much better her school life would be if she took all gym classes. At least outside she could engage in different activities, but for most of her day the only part of her that got to move was her hand as she took notes.

Minamo suddenly thought of Chia and the way she vouched for variety by coloring her hair differently every year. Minamo wasn't that bold, but at the same time she began to fancifully imagine ways to get herself outside more often--sneaking out of the school during breaks, climbing out the window when the teacher wasn't looking, going to a gym class in the morning and staying there all day.

"Good afternoon, Minamo-san," said Hako, interrupting Minamo's train of thought.

Minamo turned her head and looked at Hako, who was unusually calm. "Good afternoon," she said. Hako smiled and returned to writing on the white sheet of paper on the desk. The only sounds in the room were the slow ticking of the clock hanging from the wall and the rapid scratching of Hako's pencil as it imprinted numerous characters onto the blank sheet.

"Hey Hako, are you all right?" asked Minamo.

The sound of the scratching pencil ceased as Hako lifted her head and fixed her eyes on Minamo. "Yeah, why?"

"You're not flustered at seeing me like you usually are. Are you sick?"

"Sick? No. . ." For a split second, Hako's eyes filled with sadness, but she hid her expression by returning to her writing.

After a heavy silence, Minamo finally built up the courage to ask the one question that had been on her mind ever since she first noticed Hako obsessing over her:

"Hako, why do you like me so much?"

Hako froze and her eyes widened; the clock on the wall seemed to stop ticking. Then, her eyes softened and she sighed, looking at Minamo once more. "Do you really want to know?"

Minamo nodded, though she was uncertain of what she was getting herself into. Hako took a deep breath and began her story:

"You probably think I'm in love with you, right? I know everyone thinks I'm, well, strange. At least, that's what I hear them say. That's not the truth, though it may seem that way. See, a long time ago I had a sister who was two years older than me. She was good at sports like you are and she kept her hair short like yours. I was only in first grade when she got sick, so I didn't fully understand what was happening to her. All I knew was that a few weeks later she wasn't around and my parents told me that we couldn't play together anymore."

"That's. . .I'm so sorry." Minamo now felt horrible for the way she, Yukari, and Chia were talking about Hako at lunch. More than that, she felt bad for how the three of them made fun of her over the years.

"Don't worry," said Hako, smiling. "It happened a long time ago, so it's okay to talk about it now. Anyway, about two weeks later I noticed how well you were playing soccer in gym class and--well, with that and everything else I told you, you looked exactly like her and you still do. To me, Minamo, you're like another version of my sister."

"But Hako, that's not healthy. You can't hold on to your sister forever."

"Oh, I know that. I came to terms with her death a long time ago, but it's like--it's like someone else like her was put in my path for whatever reason, not as a replacement but as a compliment. I don't know what you've heard, but I don't have a huge shrine dedicated to you and I don't know every little detail about your life or your family. I know just as much as everyone else knows."

"I see," Minamo paused, "but that still doesn't explain why you almost have a heart attack every time you see me."

"I admire your skills in sports. Like I said, you're a lot like my sister. I always cheered for her and looked up to her, so I kind of do the same for you. Although, I will admit that it's funny seeing you freak out. No wonder Yukari teases you so much."

Both Hako and Minamo laughed, which greatly lightened the atmosphere of the room. Now, they began to wonder where Yamanashi-sensei was.

At that moment, Yamanashi-sensei walked into the classroom with a broad smile on his face. "I see both of you have learned something important," he said. The girls stared back at him, confused.

"But isn't detention supposed to be punishment?" asked Minamo.

Yamanashi-sensei chuckled and clasped his hands behind his back. "There is no point of punishing students if they don't learn something from it. Yes, you two _did_ disrupt my class, but I could tell that there was a misunderstanding between you. Now that things have been explained, the room seems lighter, does it not?" He slowly paced back and forth the length of his desk and smiled in satisfaction at the results of his first lesson of the year. "You two have been here long enough," he said, resuming his serious tone. "Go home."

Minamo and Hako silently stood and left the room.

Once outside the school, Minamo turned to Hako and said, "Why don't you hang out with Yukari, Chia, and I? You can help me keep them under control."

Hako beamed back at her and she had that look in her eye that preluded her spaz mode. "Yay! I get to hang out with Minamo-san!" Hako jumped on Minamo's back.

_Honestly_, Minamo thought, _twice in one day_? "Hako, I can't breathe!"

"Hey, since we're friends now, can I call you Nyamo?"

"You might as well," said Minamo as she regained her balance.

"Hey, Nyamo, do you care that I'm riding on your back?"

"I'm used to it by now, thanks to Yukari."

Suddenly, they heard Yukari's voice screaming "Nyamo!" Soon, Minamo could hear the sound of her feet pounding the sidewalk as she ran and she wasn't slowing down. Before Minamo could react, Yukari crashed into them, causing all of them to splatter down the sidewalk. Yukari, of course, was the only one laughing.

"Yukari, why are you still here?" asked Minamo after she managed to sit up.

"Chia and I got bored, so we decided to look around the school for weird things and then I found you!"

Minamo glared at her. "Then where's Chia?"

"She's. . .I don't know where she is."

"What happened to you two going home?"

"Well, obviously Chia didn't want to go back to her house, so I invited her over, but when we got to my house my mom was yelling at a bottle of soy sauce."

"She what?"

"Yeah, she was yelling at a bottle of soy sauce. I don't get it either, but it's not my problem. Still, it was funny to listen to for a while," Yukari laughed.

"What's not you problem?" Chia said, appearing suddenly with a cup of yogurt in her hand and a spoon.

"Chia, why do you have yogurt?" asked Minamo, pointing at the small, brightly colored plastic container.

"Huh? Oh, um. . ." Chia scratched her head and stared at the yogurt cup as if it were a strange object that she would never be able to understand. "It's yummy!" She smiled as she stuck a spoonful of the fruity treat in her mouth.

"We should probably be getting home," said Hako.

"Oh yeah! How was detention, Nyamo?" asked Chia.

"Uh, good?" Minamo replied, unable to come up with a better response.

"You four!" Yamanashi-sensei's voice boomed from the entrance of the school. "What are you still doing here? Why aren't you at home? Chisaki, why do you have yogurt?"

"What do you have against yogurt, sensei?" Chia shouted, pointing her spoon at him.

"Calm down, Chia," said Nyamo, pulling her away. "Let's just go."

When they left the school grounds, Yukari noticed for the first time that Hako was with them. "Hey Nyamo," she said, poking Hako's head, "since when did Hako start hanging out with us?"

"Since detention."

"Oh," said Yukari with a shrug. Despite the rumors about Hako, neither she nor Chia cared that Hako was hanging out with them. If Minamo didn't have a problem with it, neither did they.

"By the way, Nyamo, your balance is horrible. You shouldn't be so unstable when I jump on you," said Yukari.

"As soon as I learn to drive, I'll make my car jump on you and test your balance."

"Not if I run you over first!"

"Your reflexes are terrible! You'd never be able to run me over before I got out of the way."

"Chia, tell Nyamo that I could run her over with a car because I'd be fast enough to do it!" Yukari whined, pointing her finger in Minamo's face.

"No, Chia! Tell Yukari that she wouldn't even close the car door before I ran 100 meters away!"

Both girls leaned closer and closer to Chia, trying to force a response out of her. Luckily for Chia, the five centimeters she had on both girls gave her some sort of relief from the two pairs of dark eyes staring intensely at her.

"Um, I guess if Yukari--" Minamo narrowed her eyes even more; Chia stepped back.

"O-Or maybe if Nyamo--" Yukari growled.

"Well, what if you both. . .ran over each other at the same time?"

Yukari and Minamo looked at Chia, then at each other, then at Chia, and then back at each other. Then, the walked ahead, discussing this new factor in their scenario. Relieved, Chia sighed and fell in step with Hako. She emptied her yogurt cup, threw it into a nearby trash can, placed her silver spoon in her briefcase, and gazed up at the slowly darkening sky.

"Chia, I've been meaning to ask you," said Hako, "Why is it that you always change your hair color every year?"

Chia hesitated. Part of her was surprised that Hako would be the first to ask her this question; Yukari and Minamo just accepted her habit without wondering about it. Part of her was also a little bit angry, but Chia knew that Hako had no way of knowing how personal that question really was.

"I have an older sister who does everything perfectly and has been perfect her whole life. She succeeds at everything she tries and has lived a completely normal life. My parents pushed me to be the same, but I couldn't do it. They were disappointed in me and they made sure to show it. I figured that if I couldn't be what they wanted, I might as well go all the way and be the complete opposite of my sister. I decided all of that near the end of first grade."

"How did you find someone to dye your hair in first grade?"

"I made friends with some older kids who knew how to do it. Once I was old enough to do it myself, they taught me how. Now, I usually have money to get it done professionally."

"What do your parents think?"

"They don't care. I'm not my sister, so they leave me alone. I guess you could say they've given up on me. They're too busy basking in my sister's success and glory."

Up ahead, Yukari and Minamo had stopped and were waiting for Chia and Hako. Once they caught up, they all continued walking and jumped from topic to topic every time a new thought popped into Yukari's head. The group eventually parted at a street corner where they each went their separate ways toward their houses.

* * *

That wraps up chapter 3! I love hearing your thoughts, but I don't love flames. They make me use too much water, really.

Until next time,

-LadyRushia


	4. Athletics Festival part 1

Chapter 4 has arrived! Now it's time for the Athletics Festival. This part might be two or three chapters long. In general, I'm using a guideline for the Japanese school year I found online and the events of the anime for the basic time flow of this story. As usual, nothing belongs to me except for the OCs.

* * *

A couple months passed, and by the time the Athletics Festival came around, Yukari, Minamo, and their friends were well-adjusted to high school life. That morning, Yamanashi-sensei was more vibrant than usual. There was a light of determination in his eyes, and he addressed the class with a fervor no one had ever expected of him. "Today, as you all know is the annual Athletics Festival. Now, for the past five years or so, Katashi-sensei's class has won this even with ease, but things will be different this year!" He slammed his fist on his desk, startling the students. Then, he pointed a finger at Minamo. "Kurosawa! You are the secret weapon!"

"S-Secret weapon?" said Minamo, shaken by her instructor's loud voice.

Yamanashi-sensei nodded firmly. "Yes. You may be a failure at the English language, but I've seen you in gym class."

"What are you doing watching Nyamo during gym class, sensei?" Yukari asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Actually, it's quite entertaining to see you, my best student, get hit in the head and fall down so many times," Yamanashi-sensei answered frankly. The whole class broke out into a muted laughter save for Chia, who silently slept with her head buried in her arms.

Yukari glared at everyone, then suddenly pointed her finger in Minamo's face. "Nyamo, I challenge you! Whoever wins the Athletics Festival gets 2,000 yen from the loser!"

"Yukari, we're in the same class."

"Exactly! If I win more events than you, you'll give me 2,000 yen!"

"But Yukari--

"Don't back out! We have a bet!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outside, the late June heat was already making the students sweat even though they hadn't started yet. A mass of white shirts, sprinkled here and there with the casual clothes the teacher wore, covered the field and surrounded the track.

Yukari, Minamo, Chia, and Hako stood directly in Yamanashi-sensei's shadow. The aged man had changed into a green track suit and remained totally still, but it was obvious that he was trying to suppress the competitiveness that surged through his body. Chia was staring at the grass, contemplating which spots would be the softest for sleeping. Having been rudely awakened by Yukari's bet-making earlier that day, she felt the overwhelming desire to curl up and take a nap. Hako was, not surprisingly, clinging to Minamo's arm, squeezing it until Minamo could hardly feel it. Yukari went on and on about the "bet" and Minamo rolled her eyes every time she heard Yukari say, "and when you lose, you will give me my 2,000 yen and then you will buy me juice and desserts!"

_Honestly, Yukari, you can barely keep yourself free from injury during gym class. How can you expect to win everything in the Athletics Festival? You'll never change. You--_

"Kurosawa, look alive!" Yamanashi-sensei's command jolted Minamo out of her daydreaming. She stared at her teacher and blinked a few times. "You better not lose, Kurosawa. I've got plans for you!"

"Nyamo will never lose! She'll beat everyone so fast that she'll have to go and beat them again, right, Nyamo?" said Hako energetically, tugging Minamo's arm.

_Plans? What kind of plans?_ Minamo didn't know what to make of her teacher's attitude, but was also excited for the competitions. She figured there were only a few students in her class who would take this day as seriously as she.

"Calm down a little, sensei," Yukari said brightly. "What kind of plans do you have for Nyamo anyway?"

"Yukari," Yamanashi-sensei said dramatically, clenching his fist, "when you're older and someone keeps beating you at something, and when they eventually take almost all of your spending money, you'll understand."

"Sensei, this is strange. You're acting just like Yukari today," said Minamo. Her comment earned a punch in the stomach from Yukari.

"Ah! Don't kill her! I need her!" Yamanashi-sensei bent down to help Minamo as she fell on her knees, clutching her stomach and gasping for breath.

Hako, who had since released Minamo's arm, took a great interest in the scene until she noticed Chia searching the ground, ready to fall asleep. Hako thought it strange that Chia would be this tired, even though she usually slept through class.

"Chia, what are you doing?"

"My sister got some sort of award at work, so my parents made us stay up late to celebrate. Really, all she got was a piece of paper with her name on it. Then, after we finished praising her, my parents kept me up asking me why I can't be more like her. So, I'm trying to find a nice, fluffy patch of grass to sleep on."

"Oh, I see. . .but how are you gonna get away with sleeping on the grass?"

"Hako, would you ask a bird how it gets away with sleeping on the grass?"

"Chia, birds don't--

"Hush! Don't ruin my moment!" Chia quickly shoved a hand in Hako's face and Hako could do nothing but remain silent as Chia curled up like a kitten in a patch of very soft looking grass.

It was then that Hako noticed Minamo standing beside her--in one piece, no less, despite Yukari's attack--also staring at Chia. Hako latched herself onto Minamo's arm, but kept her eyes on Chia. Minamo didn't take notice; her focus was fixed on Chia.

"Hako, why--

"Nyamo, there are some questions that just aren't meant to be answered."

"Chia!" Yukari shouted at the top of her lungs, causing Minamo and Hako to jump. She ran over to Chia and began bouncing on her back. "Chia, you can't sleep now! I must beat Nyamo and collect my 2,000 yen, and I need your help!"

". . .No thanks. . .I'll just have the diet fish sticks. . .No! I'm allergic to salmon cream, but I would love to try your fried miso soup. Oh? It comes with a side of yogurt? Yeah. . .I'll have that. I even brought my own spoon. . ." Chia's sleep-talk rendered everyone silent for a moment, even Yukari, who say still on Chia's back.

"Chia, what kinds of restaurants do you go to?" Yukari asked, pulling on Chia's red and black hair.

". . .Well, sometimes I like fuzzy blankets. . .but if they're too fuzzy, they get hot and I get all sweaty. . .yeah. . ."

"Chisaki! Wake-up!" Yamanashi-sensei's voice boomed. Chia's eyes instantly snapped open and her head turned to find Yukari sitting on her back with her hair in her hands.

"Yukari. . .what exactly are you doing?" said Chia, giving Yukari a strange look.

"I think the real question is, what are _you_ doing?" Yukari smiled broadly, believing that she had said something clever.

"Well, you're the one sitting on my back. Besides, I asked you first."

"We don't have time for this!" Yamanashi-sensei interrupted. "The first event is about to begin! Kurosawa! Tanizaki! You two are doing the Duck Hunt!"

Yukari's eyes widened in excitement. "You mean we get to shoot real live ducks?"

_That's a weird event. What kind of school is this?_ thought Minamo, arching an eyebrow.

"No, let me explain," Yamanashi-Sensei pointed a wrinkled finger at a collection of trees surrounding the far curves of the track. "You see those woods out there? Scattered in that great forest are twelve wooden duck. Your mission, and you have no choice but to accept it, is to collect all of those ducks before the other classes even get a chance to see them! Especially Katashi's class." He growled as he spoke Master Katashi's name. "Kurosawa, you'll be capturing the ducks. Tanizaki, you'll be providing defense and back-up. Ward off all enemies. I want those ducks brought back with no injuries, understood?"

Yukari and Minamo nodded firmly, passively wondering when they had turned into soldiers as they lined up with the rest of the students participating in the event.

The gunshot sounded and Yukari bolted off in front of the other students, pushing down anyone who stood in her path. Minamo, embarrassed by Yukari's behavior, ran close behind her, apologizing to everyone who had fallen to the ground. Within moments, the two of them were in the woods, their eyes searching for any part of the ducks that might reveal their hiding places.

"Nyamo, I found a duck!" Yukari shouted, triumphantly waving the wooden animal in the air.

Without a word, Minamo nodded, changed direction, and darted her eyes left and right in search of more ducks. Suddenly, she spotted one above her head, nestled between the trunk and a thick branch. Minamo jumped and could almost feel the smooth, wooden surface, but suddenly another hand opposite of hers snatched it away. The other girl's feet hit the ground a second before Minamo's and ran off with her team mate.

"Ha! Not so fast!" Yukari shouted, firing the duck in her hand at the back of one of the girls' heads, causing her to fall on her face and forcing her more agile team mate to stop. Yukari and Minamo caught up with the girls, Minamo wondering if the girl on the ground was all right and Yukari grinning confidently at the defeat of her enemies.

"Surrender now! You've been defeated!" Yukari proclaimed, pointing her finger at the standing girl, whose expression was a mixture of boredom and irritation.

"Do you know how tempted I am to bite your finger right now?" she asked in a flat tone.

"Kaya," said the girl on the ground slowly, "am I dead?"

Kaya sighed as though that question were a regular occurrence. "Teiko, you get hit in the head a lot and you never die. This time is no different, dear."

"Hand over the duck before I unleash my _secret weapon_!" said Yukari, still pointing in Kaya's face.

"Don't tempt me when I'm hungry."

Yukari pulled her finger away and gave Kaya a strange look, unsure of how serious Kaya was an not wanting to find out.

"Don't worry Kaya," said Teiko, sitting up, a broad smile on her face, "we'll have lunch soon. We can have some melon bread, or some croquettes, or some noodles, or some rice, or some sushi, or some--

"Okay, Teiko," Kaya said quickly.

"And for dessert we can have some pie, or some cake, or some ice cream. We should get some tea, too. What kind of tea do you want?"

A long silence followed as the other three gave Teiko blank stares.

"The duck is ours!" Yukari shouted at last, startling Minamo and Kaya. "Behold, my secret weapon!"

Suddenly, Chia appeared, holding a cup of yogurt and a spoon. After carefully studying the substance, she rapidly stirred it while Yukari, Minamo, Teiko, and Kaya watched intensely.

"That's your secret weapon?" Minamo whispered.

"No, my secret weapon was just a bluff. This is just good timing."

"Hey, where'd you get that yogurt from?" Teiko asked brightly.

Chia blinked and stared at the group for a few moments, then started moving her head around while trying to come up with a response.

"Hey, Kaya, how come she's moving her head like that?"

"Maybe she's an alien," said Kaya, suppressing a laugh.

Teiko's eyes widened in amazement; she stared at Chia with her mouth wide open. "Are you really an alien?"

"Woah, Chia! When did you become an alien?" asked Yukari, equally fascinated as Teiko.

"I'm an alien?"

"Chia is not an alien," said Minamo, annoyed.

"Then why does she always show up out of nowhere with yogurt?"

"What, a girl can't have a cup of yogurt every now and then?" said Chia.

"Calm down," said Minamo. "No one here is an alien or anything like that."

Everyone stood still. It seemed that they had all completely forgotten about the Duck Hunt and didn't even notice that the other classes were returning to the track with bundles of them in their arms. Kaya still held the duck she had taken from Minamo and the one that Yukari had thrown at Teiko's head.

"So what now?" asked Chia.

"We should go back," said Kaya, turning and seeing that the event was basically over. "Everyone else is already there." The others nodded and they walked out of the woods together.

"Are you _sure_ you're not an alien?" asked Teiko. Chia made a face, but didn't say anything.

They walked back together in silence, eventually falling into step. When they reached their classes, they broke off without a word and waited for instructions on the next event.

* * *

Well, that's all for now. Now you know where the whole betting thing came from, XD. I would've made it 10,000 yen like it is in the anime, but I did some research and found that 10,000 yen is over $100. 2,000 is like $20, so I figured that's a more realistic amount for high school kids to have. Also, there will be some more normal events in the athletics festival next chapter. This one was just kind of ridiculous on purpose, XD.

Comments are lovely.

-LadyRushia


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